William Cottrell earned his PhD in theoretical physics at UW–Madison in 2017 with research touching upon various topics in gauge-gravity duality. Following postdocs at the University of Amsterdam and Stanford, he went on to a career in finance as a quantitative researcher at Jump Trading where he applies machine-learning techniques to construct mid-frequency portfolios. He also teaches a course on crypto currencies at the University of Chicago.
Jeremiah Holzbauer graduated from UW–Madison with an AMEP degree before attending Michigan State for his PhD. At MSU, he discovered particle accelerators and has been working on them ever since. His postdoc at Argonne National Laboratory and 10+ years at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have been layering on experience in this deeply applied field, including cryogenic engineering, high power engineering, and precision RF engineering. He is currently a Senior Scientist and Project Manager for about a quarter of the PIP-II Project at FNAL, responsible for delivering ~10 different systems for this major upgrade to the accelerator complex. He is also the lab’s lead expert on delicate equipment transport, hazardous material transport, and is lead for the ASPIRE internship. He is a regular instructor at the US Particle Accelerator School.
Jiajun Xu earned his PhD in Theoretical Physics from Cornell University and went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Trained in analytical modeling, mathematics, and computer science, he later transitioned into the world of finance, where he applies his interdisciplinary expertise to the complexities of global markets.